Tomorrow (Tuesday,14th April) will be a year since 200+ school girls were abducted in Northern Nigeria, since then the Boko Haram militant group has claimed responsibility of the abduction. By November last year, Boko Haram claimed it had forced most of the girls into marriage. Using the Hashtag #BringBackOurGirls the world took on social media demanding for the return of the girls. US First Lady Michelle Obama and UK Prime minister David Cameron were among the celebrities who joined this Campaign.
Nigerians have been preparing to mark a year since the Chibok girls were kidnapped. At the weekend special church services were held to pray for the missing girls. Starting on Wednesday, a week-long remembrance of the girls will include vigils, marches, demonstrations and letter-writing. Schools in Nigeria are being called on to organise marches under the Global School Girl March slogan. At the same time the Chibok Girls Ambassadors – schoolgirls aged 10 to 18 who have volunteered their time in support – will be joined in a campaign across the globe by A World at School’s Global Youth Ambassadors, who will organise vigils in support of the girls.
Hundreds of girls were taken by the Boko Haram militant group in April last year from the town of Chibok in the North-east. Government for months said it had been working to free the schoolgirls, but a year on, many of the families had lost hope in those promises. And despite Nigeria’s neighbours stepping in to fight Boko Haram, and Abuja itself boosting its efforts against the militants, claiming several victories – no news of the girls have emerged. Still, some Nigerians remain hopeful that they will be returned.
